Shelvin Mack Named To USA Select Team

Jul 08, 2010

Butler guard Shelvin Mack has been chosen by USA Basketball as
one of 20 collegiate players to comprise the USA Men’s Select
Team that will train against the 2010 USA Basketball Men’s
National Team during its July 19-24 training camp in Las Vegas,
Nevada. It marks the second straight summer of USA Basketball
experience for the Butler junior.

Mack, the second-leading scorer (14.1 ppg) on Butler’s 33-5
squad that advanced to the NCAA National Championship game last
season, is one of eight selected players owning USA Basketball
Experience and one of six who have won a gold medal in
international competition. He, along with former teammate
Gordon Hayward, helped lead the 2009 USA U19 World Championship
Team to a 9-0 record and a gold medal in New Zealand last
summer.

“We’re really excited for Shelvin to be selected, once
again, by USA Basketball to compete as a member of this select
group,” said Butler head coach Brad Stevens. “He
is very deserving - as he has been a great player, student and
leader at Butler.”

USA Basketball also announced that serving as co-head coaches of
the USA Select Team are former USA Basketball coaches and
accomplished collegiate mentors Lorenzo Romar from the University
of Washington and Jay Wright from Villanova University.

“The USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee is
thrilled to be able to give some of the top older college players
this opportunity to be involved with USA Basketball this
summer. I want to thank Jerry (Colangelo) and Mike Krzyzewski
for involving the college players,” said Jim Boeheim, chair
of the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee
and an assistant coach with the USA National Team.
“These 20 players now have an opportunity to be involved with
USA Basketball in a summer when they normally wouldn’t and
they’ll get a chance to play against some great NBA players.
It will help them improve and it will help our national team be
better prepared for this summer’s World Championship.

“We’re also very fortunate to have two prominent
college coaches direct the Select Team. Coach Romar and
coach Wright are successful college coaches and both have extensive
international basketball experience having previously served as
coaches with several USA Basketball teams,” added
Boeheim.

Members of the USA Select Team will converge on Las Vegas and
conduct a private training session July 19 (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
PDT), then train with the USA National Team July 20-23 (12:00-3:00
p.m. PDT). All practices will take place at UNLV’s Cox
Pavilion.

“We believe bringing in a USA Basketball Select Team will
help the USA National Team be better prepared for the upcoming FIBA
World Championship,” said Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball
chairman. “We had USA select teams comprised of young,
up-and-coming NBA players train against the national team in 2007
and 2008. That proved not only beneficial for our national team,
but also for the select team players who got a great training
opportunity and became involved in USA Basketball’s
pipeline. This will be a tremendous opportunity for these
collegians to be involved in USA Basketball and to get a look at
the next level.”

In addition to Mack, Select Team members with prior USA Basketball
include Shurna and Thompkins who were Mack’s teammates on
last summer’s USA Basketball’s 2009 U19 World
Championship Team. Additionally, Singler and Smith were
teammates on the USA’s U18 Championship that captured gold at
the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, and they were again teammates
on the 2007 USA Junior National Select Team that defeated an
international select team in the Nike Hoop Summit. Hopson was
a member of the victorious 2008 USA Junior National Select Team in
the Nike Hoop Summit, while Walker was a member of the 2008 USA
FIBA Americas U18 Championship Team that collected a silver medal.
Johnson has USA Basketball experience through the 2009 USA
Basketball Trials.

Both Romar and Wright have extensive international experience as
USA Basketball coaches. Romar was head coach of the USA’s
2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship Team that won gold, and an
assistant coach with the 2003 USA Pan American Games and 1997 USA
22 & Under World Championship teams. Wright was head
mentor for the USA’s 2007 Pan American Games Team and led the
2005 USA World University Games Team to a gold medal showing, and
was an assistant with the 2000 USA World Championship for Young Men
Qualifier.

Featuring players from 19 different colleges, Duke is the only
institution to feature two players. The 20 Select Team players
include eight who will be seniors in 2010-11 and 11 who will be
juniors.

Eight collegiate conferences are represented, with the Big Ten
listing five players, the ACC checks in with four, the Big 12 has
three, while the Atlantic 10, Big East and SEC each have a pair,
respectively, and the Horizon and Mountain West have one player on
the roster.

USA Basketball Men’s National Team, in preparation for the
Aug. 28-Sept. 12 FIBA World Championship, will open its 2010
training with a July 19-24 team training camp in Las Vegas. The USA
training camp will feature daily practice sessions from 12-3 p.m.
(PDT) July 20-23 at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. The USA practices
are closed to the general public. The camp will culminate with the
2010 USA Basketball Showcase, a Blue-White intra-squad game that
will be held on Saturday, July 24, 7 p.m. (PDT) at the Thomas &
Mack Center on the campus of UNLV. The USA training camp will
also feature daily practice sessions from 12-3 p.m. (PDT) July
20-23 at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. Tickets are now on sale for the
2010 USA Basketball Showcase. Tickets are priced $75, $50,
$35 for plaza seats and $18 and $12 for balcony and can be
purchased by calling 866-388-FANS or on line at
www.UNLVtickets.com.

In addition to Boeheim, the 2009-12 USA Basketball Men’s
Junior National Committee includes NCAA appointees Romar, Bruce
Weber (head coach, University of Illinois) and Roy Williams (head
coach, University of North Carolina); and Athlete Representative
Jay Williams, a member of the 2002 USA World Championship Team.